sadness

Joy’s smile is much closer to tears than it is to laughter. —Victor Hugo, Hernani We often retreat from love when it unconsciously arouses painful feelings of sadness. This is not the kind of sadness that comes when our feelings are hurt or our heart is broken. That sadness makes sense to us. This type… Read more »

Feelings of sadness, grief, despair and loneliness are normal emotions that all human beings experience at some point in their lives. When these feelings last for a long time, a misdiagnosis is often made as the conditions of being sad and depressed share several common symptoms including difficulty focusing and chronic fatigue paired with sleeplessness… Read more »

Nobody welcomes feelings of sadness or dejection, but feeling down is sometimes part of life. Sadness is a normal, healthy emotion, and a natural response to loss or disappointment. However, depression is a mental health issue, and a treatable illness. When feeling down, people often wonder, “Am I depressed?” While it may not seem to… Read more »

Watch and read our exclusive interview with Jon Kabat-Zinn. Another way to speak of it is ‘heartfullness.” – In all Asian languages the word for “mind” and the word for “heart” are the same words. So if you’re hearing mindfulness as some kind of clinical, thought-based thing, you’re way off base. This has to do… Read more »

Upon exploring my psychological issues rather late in life I discovered something entirely unforeseen: that while I had been unconsciously avoiding feeling “sad” my entire life this emotion was not only satisfying but a key to who I really am. I had until then said my goal in life was to be “happy”. After this… Read more »

It wasn’t easy for Sara, a 28-year-old sales manager, to choose to leave her well-paying job at a telecommunications company to work for a friend’s business hot to recruit her. Yet with promises of equal pay, better hours and increased time off, Sara followed her heart and took the job, only to be let go… Read more »

When he was 3-years-old, Kevin watched his dad drive away. For the few months following his parents’ split, Kevin and his brother had moved in with their father. The three of them lived together contentedly until the day Kevin’s mom showed up out of the blue and announced that she was taking the kids back…. Read more »

It’s tough when a friend or family member is going through a depression. No matter how much you love the people in your life who are struggling, appreciate their company or value their friendship, it can feel impossible to get through to them at times when they are depressed. While you may feel like telling… Read more »

It seems everyone, from financial experts to real estate agents, has offered practical advice on how to survive the recent economic downturn. But what about psychological advice? Even as the economy takes a turn for the better, there are few answers on how to cope with the fear and frustration that many of us are… Read more »

Millions of self-critical thoughts circle our minds everyday, leaving us miserable, discouraged and held back from going after what we want. Identifying these thoughts as mean-spirited, external points of view can free us from that destructive critical inner voice. You don’t have to look far to find your critical inner voice. It’s there when you… Read more »